Pres. Joe Biden Starts Tulsa Massacre Speech by Making Sure 2 Girls Get Ice Cream

By Mary Anne R. First Posted: Jun 02, 2021 04:56 AM EDT

President Joe Biden had delayed the start of his Tulsa massacre speech on Tuesday by asking two girls in the audience if they were getting ice cream.

Biden noticed the two children in the audience and made a point to talk to them and their parents before beginning his remarks.

The president said that he just had to make sure that the two girls will get ice cream when the event is over, as they are five-year-old kids hearing the president speak, which must be "purgatory" for them, Daily Mail reported.

Joe Biden was in Tulsa to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Black Wall Street Massacre. It was when white rioters killed African Americans and looted businesses in the prosperous black neighborhood in 1921.

Biden noted that the incident was not a riot but was a massacre. He said this after meeting with the three living survivors of the event. The president then cited the Capitol riot, which he got the dates mixed up. He said that it was on January 9 instead of January 6.

Joe Biden was visiting the city to ensure that the Tulsa massacre was not overlooked. He was the first president to mark the occasion.

Biden urged Americans to remember the occasion and learn from it. He had also used his remarks to invoke the late Congressman John Lewis and the struggle for Black voting rights.

Biden Assigns Kamala Harris to Lead Effort to Protect Voting Rights

Joe Biden has assigned Vice President Kamala Harris another task during his Tulsa massacre speech. He said that Kamala Harris would be leading the administration's efforts to protect voting rights, according to another Daily Mail report.

Kamala Harris then said that she would be engaging with voting rights organizations, community organizations, and the private sector in the coming days and weeks to help strengthen voting rights nationwide.

The vice president further noted that she would be working with members of Congress to help advance these bills.

Aside from the new assignment, Kamala Harris was earlier tasked to be the point person to the Northern Triangle countries to deal with the root cause of migration influx. Kamala Harris is set to travel to Mexico and Guatemala on June 7 and June 8, respectively.

The Tulsa Massacre

The two-day Tulsa massacre had caused 1,100 black homes and businesses to be destroyed. Insurance companies had also rejected claims damage, and 10,000 people were left impoverished, with the homeless put in intermittent camps.

Greenwood was looted and burned by white rioters, which prompted Governor J.B.A. Robertson to declare martial law. The National Guard had arrived in Tulsa and assisted firefighters in putting out the fires. They also took African Americans from vigilantes and imprisoned all Black Tulsans.

More than 6,000 people were held at the Convention Hall and the Fairgrounds for as long as eight days. Over 800 people were treated for injuries.

Initial reports stated that deaths began at 36. However, historians now believe that as many as 300 people may have died during the Tulsa massacre.

The massacre had started when Dick Rowland, a young African American shoe shiner, was accused of assaulting a white elevator operator named Sarah Page in the elevator of a downtown Tulsa building.

That evening mobs of African Americans and whites had met on the courthouse where Rowland was being held. A confrontation between an armed African American man and a white protester resulted in the latter's death. The armed African American was there to protect Rowland.

WATCH: 'This Was a Massacre': Biden Honors Tulsa Victims - From Reuters